Thursday, November 23, 2017

Blogville has allowed us to connect with people from all over the world. People from different walks of life, with different beliefs, cultures and traditions. These are people we would not have had the opportunity to meet in other circles. We are all brought together by the love of animals and the place they have in our lives and hearts. We share our joys, pains and laughter. Blogville is always around when we need support. Blogville never rolls their eyes when we share 'another' dog picture. Blogville teaches us a lot about being a pet owner.

We are thankful for all the love and understanding we have found in Blogville.

Lady is thankful Blogville gives her an excuse to travel to places she wouldn't.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Angels Loki and Gemini use to snuggle all the time. While Phod and Lee are friends, they aren't snuggly and they rarely even sleep close to each other. This is a rare picture of them being so close together and to not be begging for food. While I wish they were more snuggly, I am just grateful they are friends.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

I have spoken about Big Sky Ranch Animal Sanctuary before. It is a wonderful 'farm' where several of my adult clients (who have autism) volunteer a couple times a week. They do the farm work that is required to keep the animals safe and healthy.

The farm is getting ready for winter so the animals are moving inside. During my visit last week, one of our jobs (and this included me) was to catch ducks and chickens and put them in a coop. Someone had accidentally let them out, and the birds would either freeze or become coyote food.

Now I am a country girl, but I am NOT a farm girl. The catching part was not something I was willing to do, especially after a duck splashed mud all up my face. (Being dirty is something that is very stressful for me.) I was more willing to chase and corner the birds so someone else could catch them. I managed to herd two ducks into the coop and went through the deep woods to flush the chickens out. The job coach for my clients is very skilled at scooping the birds up. She did an excellent job, while I ran around and the clients laughed at us.

Unfortunately, because I was working, I wasn't able to get pictures of the bird chase, I did get a few other pictures to share.

Diesel the Llama

A new arrival cat. My clients were responsible for cleaning her cage.

I was started when the cow started licking the window of the cat room!

Two roosters. They were fighting before they were caught.

Feeding the goats

This cat things she owns the place and is on one of my client's snack bag

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Today I send my heart-felt gratitude to those past and present, who have sacrificed or been willing to sacrifice their lives to make the world a better place. It isn't a perfect place, and the times are uncertain, but their willingness to stand up to evil allows me many freedoms I would not have if they had hidden from danger.

May their sacrifices both at home and on the front provide us the courage and inspiration we need in the face of the current evils.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

I was window shopping in Winners (think Marshalls or TJ Max American friends, as they are owned by the same parent company) last weekend before seeing a movie. As always, I spent some time in the pet section.

There I spotted this cute little couch for a furry friend. I thought my spoiled dogs may love that.

Then I looked at the price tag. I should have taken a picture of it. This cute little couch was $225 Canadian dollars before tax. Marked down from $350. The ticket price was about $180 US, $230 Australian Dollars, or $152 Euros! I could not believe it.

Needless to say that I didn't purchase this couch. For that kind of money I could almost buy them a human sized one!

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

As you all know I have an anxiety disorder. Lady tells people I am a little crazy, but I am not crazy. She is crazy for not realizing that fireworks, wind and thunder are likely going to kill us all!

Because I have a history of being very destructive (I have only put one hole in a wall, I don't see what the big deal is) and of barking all night, from April-October I have to take Prozac. (To be clear, I get my meds from the human pharmacy, it is the generic form of Prozac, the same drug humans get).

A coworker recently asked Lady why I wasn't just on an as needed med. Lady explained they had discussed this but since there are fireworks usually 5 nights a week, and you can never be 100% sure if/when a thunderstorm is coming and to be home the 2 hours before to give the meds, daily meds are best for me.

My Prozac does help. We had a record number of thunderstorms this year and I only did a little damage one day and only needed peeps to be up with me 3 nights. They were impressed.

Now is the time of year that I go off the meds. You can't just stop them, you have to ween me off them. Lady has a schedule mapped out on the calendar. This is the only few weeks my peeps see any side effects or changes in my behaviour. I am starving all the time (which is funny cause a side effect of the meds is suppose to be hunger, but for me, they make me slow down my eating). I am also a little more excited about things, like to see my people. But as you may have seen on Friday's post, I still get to be off leash.

While I won't miss having a pill shoved down my throat every day, I will miss the cookie I get after it. I will be pill free as of next week for a few months.

Monday, November 6, 2017

A couple weeks ago, the Man convinced me to help him take the dogs out before bed. Usually he takes out alone. Reluctantly I went.

I had Hailey and as we were walking off the porch it felt like there was something on my hand. I thought my sweater or watch was rubbing funny and I was shaking my hand. It was too dark to see anything. Maybe 30 seconds later, my hand started to burn. It felt like it was on fire. I handed Hailey to the Man and said I had to go in, something was wrong.

When I got to the porch, I could see 2 very distinctive bites on my left hand. I also had one that didn't burn very much on my lower back (because I happened to have an itch there as we were going out).

Our best guess is a spider bit me. My hand was red and swollen and painful. The back less so. I took a Benadryl, I iced them, I put an anti-bacterial cream on. I broke out from head to toe in a rash and was soooo itchy, but the burning only lasted maybe 20 minutes.

To the disappointment of the Man, I did not wake up with spider powers. In the morning I was fine and the only evidence of the night before were two very small red dots on my left hand. I hope that this is the one and only time I get bitten by a spider.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Today I join the digital world in blogging for peace. We live in violent and uncertain times. I am sure like a lot of you, I feel exhausted when I read another headline of another hate crime.

The solutions to what ails our planet will be complex and challenging. Behaviour change is not easy. We need to find a way to put aside our differences just long enough to put down the weapons and try and work together on solving our problems. We need to look for the things that unit us instead of focusing on our differences.

Friday, November 3, 2017

I was excited to report that my peeps have finally realized that I can be trusted in the yard off leash. They have some pretty strict rules about the time of day and my mood before this is attempted. They say this is because I have a history of not listening and a very successful hunting record. Then on Halloween, I decided to go to the neighbours without telling Lady. Our neighbour has a dog who hates other dogs. Lady only found me because she heard me barking. So I have lost this privileges with her. I will try and get the Man to trust me as I really loved my off-leash time.

Last weekend, in the rain I went searching for flowers, but I didn't find any. I think the flower part of our year is done! I will keep looking!

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Two weeks ago, the Man took our boy to the vet because he wouldn't stop scratching his ear. We are happy to report that the ear meds (which is he off now) and the daily Reactine has cleared up the problem. There is no more scratching, and his ear is healed. We will be continuing to use a special solution to clean his ear twice a week. He will also stay on Reactine until at least the end of the month, where we will stop, hopefully until spring. We believe his allergies are seasonal and environmental. Of course, if he needs daily Reactine all year, he will have it.

I am laughing because after about 30 years of daily allergy meds (including like 20 years with Reactine), I am now down to half a pill once or twice a week, and now my dog may be on it daily! Well, we have plenty as I buy it at Costco!

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About Us

This is the adventures of an average Lady, her Man, and two dogs.
Feel free to email us at leeandphod@bell.net [That is Lee and Phod!]
The pictures and content here belong to our Lady. Do not use without permission.